The Pittsburgh Steelers have an outstanding coaching history featuring Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and now Mike Tomlin.
Where do they rank? Could Tomlin's legacy surpass Cowher's with Pittsburgh?
Watch as Adam Lefkoe and Bleacher Report NFL Analyst Chris Simms discuss the Steelers' coaches in the video above.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...steelers-coach
After 8 years for Tomlin
82-46 in regular season
5-4 in the playoffs
Make the playoffs 5 times
2 AFC title games
2 Super bowl apparence
1 super bowl champions
After 8 years for Bill Cowher
77-51 in regualar season
5-6 in the playoffs
Make the playoffs 6 times
3 AFC title games
1 super bowl apparence
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I see it as Tomlin squandered an opportunity to win an additional SB with Cowher's guys. I think if we went with Wiz and Grimm the transition would have been more seamless and consistent.
To put it to rest, Tomlin will need to win another SB. The Antonio Brown and Le'veon Bell draft picks make up for all of the Limas Sweeds.
All Defense!
I sincerely doubt it. Whiz has proven to be as clueless at managing QBs as Cowher was. Hell, he had Warner and Leinart sharing the QB job for over a year after he got to Arizona, and I don't think I have to mention his track record there with QBs after Warner retired.Originally Posted by ALLD
If Whiz had stayed, I truly believe we would have lost Ben after his rookie contract expired and he demanded a trade. No question in my mind about that.
I know the long standing narrative has been that there was/is bad blood between Whiz and Roethlisberger due to Roethlisberger's immaturity at the time, but IMO, there was more to it than that and that Whiz bears some culpability for it as well.
Cowher at the moment...at times, Tomlin looks and acts lost. Cowher was more immature. Moth had episodes where they wanted to "run on the field." Cowher was able to contain his...where Tomlin stepped into the middle of a play..."by accident."
Remember when Cowher shoved the photo into the referees pocket when the screwed up the too many players on the field call in that Vikings game in 1995 (I think)? Good times...good times...
No, there just wasn't a federal case made of it when Cowher did it...
IMO, Cowher and Tomlin are interchangeable at this point while neither comes close to Noll.
I will say, though, that I have to laugh at the "Cowher's guys" argument, seeing how one of the key players in the SB run in '08 was Harrison, and all Harrison did when Cowher was still in town was rot on the bench behind Porter. And had Cowher stuck around, I firmly believe he would have continued to do so since Porter was unquestionably "Cowher guy Numero Uno."
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Tomlin isn't done yet so I can't say. Cowher didn't exactly tear it up in the playoffs. I'm not exactly a Tomlin fan but until he's done in Pittsburgh, I can't say which one was a better coach.
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I agree.
“I believe the game is designed to reward the ones who hit the hardest. If you can't take it, you shouldn't play!” - Jack Lambert
Cowher's mishandling of Kordell Stewart was a debacle as well. They would've been better off keeping Slash where he was and starting Jim Miller at QB.
I give now an advantage to Cowher, but Tomlin can surpassed him
I would like to see the steelers more consistent under Tomlin in regular season and in the playoffs.
The default of Cowher was of course the QB, but when he had one, the Steelers had 2 amazing seasons in 2004 and 2005.
1997 AFCCG - Steelers trailing by 10 points. Steelers' ball, 2nd-and-goal at the Broncos' five-yard line. Instead of calling on the Bus, who was still very much in his prime at the time and who had been running roughshod over the Broncos' D all afternoon, he puts the ball in Stewart's hands, who promptly (and predictably) throws an INT into triple coverage in the end zone, and effectively loses the game right there and then.
And people say Tomlin makes dumb calls?
And the only reason he had one at all is because Dan Rooney pulled rank on him during the '04 Draft.
And I still say we almost lost Super Bowl XL because he insisted coming out in his usual ultra-conservative Martyball-lite turtleball mode. You'd think that after blowing the Broncos' doors off in the AFCCG, Roethlisberger's confidence would have been peaking, yet he played that game scared to death. Think Cowher didn't have a huge hand in that, especially after watching O'Donnell hand over his first Super Bowl to the Cowboys on a silver platter? I do.
I also vividly recall a sideline soundbite by Roethlisberger from the highlights of that game, which, IMO, said it all: "Let's play to win, coach, not play not to lose." Thankfully, the Seahawks played like shit as well and we got a couple of calls our way.
Again, the guy just did not know how to effectively manage his QBs.
Maybe, but the 2nd interception of Roethlisberger was not the fault of Cowher!
It was 3rd and goal and the steelers were ahead 14-3 and if Ben Makes this easy pass,this is 21-3 and the game would have been a blowout.
Along the lines of putting Harrison in at fullback...but worse...1997 AFCCG - Steelers trailing by 10 points. Steelers' ball, 2nd-and-goal at the Broncos' five-yard line. Instead of calling on the Bus, who was still very much in his prime at the time and who had been running roughshod over the Broncos' D all afternoon, he puts the ball in Stewart's hands, who promptly (and predictably) throws an INT into triple coverage in the end zone, and effectively loses the game right there and then.
And people say Tomlin makes dumb calls?
In 1995 during the Super Bowl XXX, the Steelers had completely dominated the Cowboys during the 2nd half and one of the reasons was because of the onside kick by Cowher, but O'Donnell has cost the super bowl with 2 interceptions which are completely unexplainable
Cowher deserved at least to win one super bowl
I can't prove it, but I think Ben being scared of his own shadow in that game while going 9-for-21 and playing like warmed over dogshit WAS largely Cowher's fault. Ben was scared to death in that game, and it showed, and it was a night and day difference from the way he played throughout the entire postseason up to that point. You don't think he spent the two weeks leading up to that Super Bowl in Ben's head, especially considering the way Cowher's first Super Bowl was lost? Sorry, but I do. I thought that then and I think it now.
This is very possible you're right, but the fact that Roethlisberger was young at that time has not help too
I will concede that Cowher was better at assembling a coaching staff. Some of Tomlin's choices for assistants have been really piss-poor.
Cowher did win a SB.
Hater = Realist
Tomlin can only win with Cowher's players
I saw something somewhere that it was decided that the receiver ran the wrong route on that and it wasn't O'Donnell's fault.
Bill Cowher definitely . Tomlin won and loss a Super Bowl with cowhers guys. Also Tomlin's lack an identity and mentality . Cowher was smash mouth football and everyone knew you were in for a fight with cowhers steelers. Also Cowher made his own decisions as a coach . Tomlins hasn't created that culture of controlled violence and power , i feel like rides the coordinators and his staff around him rather then take the wheel himself
Is it true that O'Donnell never set a foot inside western PA since that game?
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I don't think MT has as much X and O knowledge and that is why he leans on assis coaches.
How exactly was "Martyball disciple extraordinaire" Cowher an X's and O's guy? Smashmouth football worked great until some semblance of a passing game was required, and that's where he inevitably failed (over and over and over again). The guy lost FOUR AFCCGs at HOME, and at least two of those should have been slam dunk wins (Chargers in '94 and Patriots in '01).
Whenever smashmouth football all of a sudden didn't work, he repeatedly proved completely incapable of changing things up, and an inability to change things up is also one of the biggest criticisms of Tomlin, it seems to me.
And as far as the "Cowher's guys" argument goes, see my earlier post about Harrison. Tomlin is no great shakes himself, but what does it say that he's won and appeared in as many Super Bowls as Cowher in half the time? Actually, less than half the time, seeing how his last appearance was five years ago now. And unlike Cowher, Tomlin still hasn't had a losing season, even though the defense has seen a massive decline over the last several years.
Not really trying to defend Tomlin here, but I'm really tired of the over-romanticized revisionist history of Cowher as a great coach. He was a good coach with a ton of flaws (the biggest being his pigheaded insistence that he could win without a QB and wasting a half a decade and the Bus' prime backing Kordell Stewart as "his guy" at QB), and that was about it.
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I can understand the criticisms of Tomlin. His teams (especially lately) being under prepared/sloppy vs bad teams with losing records is definitely a danger to my BP.
However, that 2010 team played with a crap OL (injures) and 4 games without a real QB. Most teams could have folded then. But, he kept that team together. The pass defense was a huge question mark coming off a 2009 nightmare.
Could they have won vs Green Bay? Sure. But, if we had won, that would have been just another SB with "Cowher's guys" to some people. Yes, Cowher turned over some great players to Tomlin. There is no doubt about that. But, if you criticize coaches for failures, give them props for doing something right.
And, Cowher had some great moments, no doubt. But he, like Tomlin, is no Chuck Noll.
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It's hard to compare imo.
Cowher came farther with less to work with and had fewer years with a top shelf quarterback.
Tomlin inherited one of the best teams in the NFL and has had a top shelf QB his entire tenure.
Right now I give the edge to Cowher due to where he started. However I think Tomlin will probably come out on top if he has 3 to 5 more years with Ben and most of the current roster.
"With love, with patience, and with Faith
....She'll make her way" ~ Natalie Merchant
2010 was the best coaching job by Tomlin in his career and one of the best I've seen in the nfl
It was very impressive.
Which, again, was largely his own fault. He passed on Brees in '01 (thankfully, Big Snack panned out) and would have done the same with Roethlisberger in '04 if Dan Rooney hadn't overruled him. And God only knows how long Roethlisberger would have languished on the bench had Turnover Tommy not gotten injured.
Nailed it again, Fan. When Cowher came in as HC in 1991, he was a breath of fresh air. I remember we beat Houston week one, on the road, as a pretty big underdog. That was a sign of things to come. He put together some really solid teams. But, as many of us are often fond of saying about Tomlin winning with Cowher players, Cowher himself had the cupboard pretty full from Noll players. Let's not forget, Cowher inherited players such as Woodson, O'Donnell, Hoge, Lloyd, Lake, Foster, Green, Mills, Nickerson, Everett, John Jackson, Dawson, Haselrig, Strzelczyk, et al. How many probowlers is that?
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